1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hanger for suspending a parallelepiped from furniture having a graspable element. More particularly, the invention is a holder capable of compressively grasping the headboard or other portion of the frame of a bed, and compressively grasping a box for dispensing tissue paper. The former is only one representative application of the invention, which may be employed to support a carton or other container at a convenient height for dispensing its contents.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Bedridden patients afflicted with nasal congestion and similar conditions must frequently clear their nasal passages with tissue papers provided for that purpose. Since the need may arise suddenly, it is desirable to maintain a supply of tissue papers enclosed in a conventional dispensing box close by. One convenient location for the box is suspended from the headboard of the bed. In this location, the box is easily in reach, yet does not risk becoming entrapped in bedclothes or the like, nor being crushed when the patient moves about. To suspend a conventional tissue supply and dispensing box requires a support which can grasp and retain both the box and a member of the headboard or frame.
Hooks and brackets adapted to hold articles near environmental surfaces are old. Examples having a hook at each end, one for engaging a supporting environmental member and one for grasping the subject article, are seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,078, issued to Nathaniel H. Risley on Feb. 6, 1996, U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,823, issued to William F. Protz, Jr., on Sep. 10, 1996, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,319, issued to Walter L. Grassi on Apr. 14, 1998. Risley's clip lacks adjustment in length of one hook, as seen in the present invention. Also, the other hook of Risley is curved, thereby not being configured to conform to a parallelepiped. The wreath hanger of Protz, Jr. also lacks adjustability of length of a hook. Also, one hook is curved, rather than configured to conform to a parallelepiped. Grassi's device has square, adjustable length hooks, but lacks inward inclination and elastic resilience of material enabling a hook to compressively engage the supporting environmental member and the article being supported.
A door hook which spans the thickness of a door is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,131, issued to William E. Adams on Mar. 4, 1997. This device has two individual hooks disposed upon the same side of a central member, thereby forming a squared "C" shape, rather than the squared "Z" shape of the present invention. Also, the two individual hooks are curved, rather than squared, as is seen in the present invention. Adjustment in Adams enables the hook to be located closer or farther from the central member, but does not affect dimensions of the hook itself, as seen in the present invention.
In addition to deviations from the present invention set forth above, none of these prior art devices has a scoring line enabling one hook section to be broken off at a predetermined point to enable the device to be bolted to a vertical surface rather than engage the top and rear surfaces of the supporting environmental element. This feature is novel to the present invention.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.